Even though a computer can be a big help, there are little things, which can be most disturbing. For three of these little annoyances there is now a solution….

Many open Windows: Working all day with the computer leaves lots of windows in the taskbar. Switching by ALT TAB to another window becomes then a big task, since you have to step through all the many windows again and again.

The CloseAllWindwos tool closes all windows (applications) in a single blow. Windows with changed content show a message box (save / abort). A definable filter allows 'protecting' windows. Those windows will never be closed by the CloseAllWindows tool (e.g. Microsoft Outlook).

Annoying formats in the clipboard: The clipboard is very handy to copy text from e.g. Internet Explorer to another application. The clipboard copies not just the text, but also all formats like font, color, size and even frames. The Clipboard-Cleaner allows cleaning the clipboard with just one click. After that the clipboard contains only plain text.

Large amounts of text need a little bit more time to be cleaned. At the end of the cleaning process a sound plays. That way you know when the text is ready for pasting.

Entering the same text again and again: Often you have to enter the same text over and over again. e.g. in the Internet your e-mail address, in the office some parts of a report, etc. This tool allows entering such text very fast by using a hotkey.

2 'CloseAllWindows' Requirements

2.1 Operating Systems:

'CloseAllWindows' can be used with the following operating systems;

· Windows 98 / ME

· Windows NT 4.0

· Windows 2000

· Windows XP

· Windows Vista

3 Licenses

'CloseAllWindows' is a shareware program. That means you can test this program for 30 days. After that time you must buy a licensed version. The licensed version can be bought over the Internet. Address: http://www.kratronic.com/tools

The licensed version can be bought by credit card, checks or money order.

A single license 'CloseAllWindows' costs 12 US$. (Site license: 50 US$, World wide license: 100 US$

License Terms:

· A single license is meant for one PC only.

A site license is meant for a single unit of a company. A company unit can have several buildings in a city. To use 'CloseAllWindows' in different branches (normally located in different cities) a worldwide license is needed.
The site license and the worldwide license allows a company to use 'CloseAllWindows' on every PC on this site or worldwide in this company. (But not outside the company).

The state of your Mouse and Key Recorder (Test-Version or Licensed Version) is shown in the About Box.

4 Installation

'CloseAllWindows' is delivered as a ZIP file. Before you can use the content, it has to be decompressed.. Newer Windows operating systems have a built in decompression function. For other operating system a good decompressing program can be found at: http://www.winzip.com.

After the decompression just start the file Setup.exe. The Setup will guide you through the installation process.

If you want to upgrade to a newer version, please exit the tool first, then uninstall it, and install the new version.

5 Starting of 'CloseAllWindows'

You can start 'CloseAllWindows' by clicking Start | Programs | CloseAllWindows. Later on in this manual you can find a way to let the 'CloseAllWindows' tool be started automatically during PC-booting.

After starting 'CloseAllWindows' the following icon appears in the System Tray (next to the PC clock) . After clicking on this icon, all open windows are closed (except Microsoft Outlook). Windows with changed content (e.g. a Word window) show a question-message box (save / abort) and let you save the content if needed.

6 Options

Clicking with the right hand mouse key on the new icon , the following menu appears:

6.1 Function 'Close all Windows' / 'Clean Clipboard'

As already mentioned above this tool contains two functions:

Close all Windows
Clean Clipboard

These two menus allow to choose which function is carried out, when the icon is clicked.

6.2 Set Hotkeys

Clicking this menu entry the following window appears:

It is possible to call the two functions 'Close all Windows' and 'Clean Clipboard' by hotkeys. This form allows defining which combination of CTRL, Shift, ALT and function key will be used as a hotkey.

The hotkeys are only active if the checkbox 'Hotkeys activated' is ticked.

After clicking on button Text - Hotkeys the following form appears:

This form allows defining the texts, which can be entered to the active application by a hotkey.

Procedure:

Write the text to the Text field e.g. 'Kind regards'. Choose the desired hotkey combination and click Add.

Hint: The two hotkeys used for the Window Closer and Clipbaord Cleaner can not be used for text hotkeys. (They will not trigger the text)

The tool converts the following special characters automatically. They are enclosed by two braces: {+},{^},{%},{~},{(},{)},{[},{]}. Braces must not be used in the text (except special commands as defined later on).

The following commands (enclosed by braces) can also be used in the hotkey text:

CAPS LOCK	{CAPSLOCK}
DEL	{DELETE} or {DEL}
DOWN ARROW	{DOWN}
END	{END}
ENTER	{ENTER}
ESC	{ESC}
HOME	{HOME}
INS	{INSERT}
LEFT ARROW	{LEFT}
NUM LOCK	{NUMLOCK}
PAGE DOWN	{PGDN}
PAGE UP	{PGUP}
PRINT SCREEN	{PRTSC}
RIGHT ARROW	{RIGHT}
SCROLL LOCK	{SCROLLLOCK}
TAB	{TAB}
UP ARROW	{UP}

F1	{F1}
F2	{F2}
F3	{F3}
......
F11	{F11}
F12	{F12}

The three special characters +, %, ^ can be used to activate the keys: Shift, Alt, CTRL. To avoid bracing the special characters the keyword: #X5# has to be set in front of the text. Example:

#X5#%foC:\Data\MyDocument(1).doc{ENTER}. This string will be converted to:

%foC:\Data\MyDocument{(}1{)}.doc{ENTER}. This means the menu File will be opened, there Open will be clicked, then the filename C:\Data\MyDocument(1).doc will be entered and Enter is pressed.

Special character description:

Key Code

SHIFT	+
CTRL (CONTROL)	^
ALT	%

Examples: +^h = Shift Control h, +^%{F1} = Shift Control Alt F1

6.3 Set Windows Filter

Some windows should never be closed. This could be e.g. Microsoft Outlook. The window filter allows defining those windows. Clicking on this menu a notepad window appears:

In this example the windows "Top Folder Mr. Miller", "InBox - Microsoft Outlook Kra-Tronic." und "Hot LEO English-German Dictionary - Microsoft Internet Explorer" are not closed by the 'CloseAllWindows' function.

The following wildcard rules can be used:

Kind of match Pattern Match (returns True) No match (returns False)

Multiple characters a*a aa, aBa, aBBBa aBC

*ab* abc, AABB, Xab aZb, bac

Special character a[*]a a*a aaa

Multiple characters ab* abcdefg, abc cab, aab

Single character a?a aaa, a3a, aBa aBBBa

Single digit a#a a0a, a1a, a2a aaa, a10a

Range of characters [a-z] f, p, j 2, &

Outside a range [!a-z] 9, &, % b, a

Not a digit [!0-9] A, a, &, ~ 0, 1, 9

Combined a[!b-m]# An9, az0, a99 abc, aj0

Sometines the Window Filter function is needed in a inverse way. That means you would like to have the windows in the list killed, but all others not. This behaviour can be reached by adding the key word #InverseX5# to the top of the list. Example:

#InverseX5#

Top Folder*

*Microsoft Outlook*

Top Folder and Outlook windows will be closed all the others not. Hint: The keyword #InverseX5# needs to be located on the first line. (In this case no other words or letters are allowed in the first line)

Hints:

A window named 'CloseAllWindows' or 'Close all Windows' will never be closed. Reason: This is necessary for development and test of the program.
The WindowsFilter.txt file is saved in the private disk part of each user. e.g. C:\Documents and Settings\John\ApplicationData\CloseAllWindows\WindowsFilter.txt. That means each user can have his/her own filter settings.

6.4 Autostart Program

Starting the 'Close all Windows' every day manually would be annoying. After clicking menu entry 'Autostart Program' the tool is started automatically during PC booting.

6.5 Information

This menu entry shows information about the program:

Test-Version or licensed Version
Copyright
Author
Internet-Address (The place where you can order a licensed version)

6.6 Exit

This menu entry ends the tool.

6.7 Disclaimer

The 'CloseAllWindows' has been tested to the best of our abilities for bugs. The author of 'CloseAllWindows' is not responsible for any damage that may incur to the user's system or data as a result of using 'CloseAllWindows'.

John Krauer, Kra-Tronic Corp. Sept. 1st 2007